Your current client base can be an excellent source for new revenue. They are already familiar with your business practices and have (hopefully) had a great experience with you in the past. Many of us don’t know how to approach clients to sell them additional products or upgrading ones they already have, but it can be much easier than cold calling if done correctly! Here are five tips on approaching your database without seeming too pushy.

1. Identify your clients needs and goals: The most important part to any business relationship is making sure that your clients feel like you are putting their best interest first. If you are trying to push something on them that they don’t see the value in, they are not very likely to work with you now or in the future. Really take the time to understand what your clients goals are and tailor products that will fit those needs. This can be as simple as scheduling a meeting to revise their home insurance policy after a major home renovation, or reviewing the loan they took out 5 years ago to see if they qualify for a lower rate if they had less than perfect at the time.
2. Identify Clients With a Need for Additional Products: Keeping detailed notes on each of your closed deals is critical. If you are an insurance agent and have a client signing up for a home policy, following up to get an auto policy through you should be an automatic move. If you are a mortgage or real estate professional with a client that buys investment properties, it would be beneficial to follow up frequently to see if any projects are in the works. Being proactive and reaching out to your clients before they actually need you is a good way to stay fresh in their minds. This could be through regular follow up phone calls or monthly email “check ins”.
3. Stay in Touch With Your Clients: We are bombarded by advertisements every day. From geckos trying to sell us insurance, to celebrities telling us how to find the perfect home through a website. This means that you are competing for your clients’ loyalty with other big companies everyday. Making regular calls to check in and sending reminders that you are there to help them is crucial to staying at the top of your databases mind. If they don’t have to search junk drawers for your business card, you are more than likely going to be the one that they call first. Sending out informational newsletters, mailing a holiday card each year, or emailing information about your additional services are all good ways to stay in front of everyone without being too aggressive.

If you hate getting hung up on making cold calls to strangers, selling additional products to your existing client base is an easy way to increase your revenue. You can use the relationship you’ve already established to break the ice and promote your services. How do you sell to your current client base? Are there any tactics we have missed that you would recommend?